Mostly undiscovered and recently released on DVD in the States, this Korean gem is one interesting and thought provoking film that combines stylish cinematography and stellar acting with an intriguing premise, works on many levels and definitely worth a look. Here is my complete take on Oldboy:

The Players:

Min-sik Choi - Dae-su Oh
Ji-tae Yu - Woo-jin Lee
Hye-jeong Kang - Mi-do

The Play:

Dae-Su Oh, a married man with a 4 year old daughter is kidnapped after a night of drinking and imprisoned in a apartment for an undisclosed reason or time frame. He does have all the food and shelter he needs, including television which is his only outlet to the real world. He remains in that room for 15 years before finally escaping.

On the outside his only motivation to live is finding out who did it and for what reason he was held captive. His wife murdered, his daughter disappeared, he has nothing but vengeance for his time in his own prison.

On the outside he meets Mi-do, a young female chef who keeps him company and keeps him somewhat sane. They fall in love and share intimate times together, Mi-do always supporting Dae-su’s intentions, no matter how gruesome it may be. He gathers clues from his imprisonment to find the main person responsible for the crimes, Woo-jin.

Woo-Jin convinces Dae-su not to kill him because he will feel the emptiness of never knowing why he was held captive, Dae-su however puts the pieces together and discovers a major piece of the puzzle from his days with Woo-jin in school.

The ending has such a shocking twist that I cannot reveal because it will ruin the movie, but all I can say is knowledge of the events would have been worse than 15 years in prison, you’ll understand when you watch.

The Good:

The premise and plot of the film are quite intriguing, if you were imprisoned for 15 years, would you rather kill the one responsible or be satisfied with knowing the reason behind the imprisonment even if it meant life for the guilty one? Throw in a shocking and unforeseen twist at the end that rivals The ending to The Sixth Sense and you have yourself a great absorbing story of mystery and suspense.

The acting in the film is superb, even though I saw the dubbed version I could see the passion and emotion from the actors throughout the movie, primarily Oldboy himself Min-Sik Choi who shows his acting prowess in a breathtaking scene towards the end. There are Shakespearean level tragic events that require the actors to be top notch and they certainly are.

The cinematography is utterly spectacular, very clever angles and jump cuts to other events keeps the viewers glued to the story. This is reminiscent of Kill Bill in its shooting style. There is definitely some influence from Hitchcock in the style of cinematography, extreme close ups of one face with the rival in the background and in focus, very interesting to watch.

The beauty of the music is another strong asset, a classical soundtrack that embodies the tragedy of the story and penetrates the soul of the characters, there is one particular scene that is well directed, a 5 minute fighting sequence in a hallway backed up by classical music, one man versus more than a dozen men, quite intriguing.

I might add the dubbing is great in the film, it’s nice to see the spirit of the film preserved in English, although it can’t match the prowess of the original Korean version it succeeds in its own right.

The Bad:

Though the cinematography was superb there are scenes of very abrupt editting cuts that jump to different parts, sometimes it’s hard to follow the logic of those jumps, especially when you think you figure something out about the plot and then it cuts to an unrelated scene, such cuts are few and far in between.

The ending that reveals the secret twist is quite controversial once you figure out what it is, it may offend some people and turn them away, its suggestion is crude and will definitely have you talking, those with a closed mind will find it offensive.

Although violence in the film is necessary, there are some scenes that are suggestively gruesome, such as a tooth pulling scene and violent gunplay, it is done in a subdued way but it is still evident throughout the movie.

Overall Grade:

4.2 of 5



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age